


The Powers That Be

by Fic_finisher (orphan_account)



Series: Age of Apocalypse : Slavery Arc (Orig. AU) [3]
Category: Age of Apocalypse (Comics), Marvel (Movies)
Genre: Bisexual Characters, F/F, Lesbian Relationship, M/M, Pansexual Character, Period-Typical Racism, Politics, Racism, Real People used as Plot Devices, Socialists, Transexual Character (shapeshifter), comparisons to Hitler, mentions of Hitler, mentions of WW2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 02:26:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4901992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Fic_finisher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The political part of Apocalypse's apocalypse and the movements of the politically-powered people involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Powers That Be

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Breeding Pens (cont.)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4635744) by [Fic_finisher (orphan_account)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Fic_finisher). 



> Please remember the context of these drabbles: Age of Apocalypse was a harsh wartime setting with plots that focused strongly on discriminatory themes. These drabbles *WILL* contain racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia and any handful of other discriminating behaviors. It *WILL* contain heavy violence, because the characters are individuals who live in a society where anything and everything detrimental is acceptable and encouraged, as long as it's done by a mutant to a human. They are also canonically portrayed as brutal and harsh.
> 
> I, as the author, do not condone any of these behaviors, nor am I expressing hatred against any race, religion, sex/gender/orientation, or disability via these drabbles.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The origin of the escapee group consisting of Artemis, Newt, Pyro, Phantasia, and Avalanche as non-canonically depicted by this author. Background on Rex. As well as some lead-up to the Age of Apocalypse itself and how Mr A came to be in power.
> 
> Please note that at this time of story, the world looks the same as it does now, to you and I - or rather, closer to how it looks in Agents of SHEILD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the author, Marvel, Mr O'Leary, or Ms Lang. No offence is meant to Mr O'Leary or Ms Lang.
> 
> Chapter Warnings: swearing, impending doom, non-canonical description of characters, death threat/threat of violence, lesbian relationship, bisexual guys, bisexual woman/man/shifter, repetitive and frequent mentions of Hitler and WW2 (no mentions or descriptions of camps).

_**Seven Years Ago...** _

In a cafe, a woman sipped on a tea, waiting at a six-seating table for five guests. She watched people in the cafe, watched through the window people on the street. How they spoke to each other, how they looked at things, how they moved, how they dressed. She watched and surmised.

Usually, one could tell the X-positives if one looked hard enough. That young one with the hot pink mohawk could tell private things about people, probably had telepathy. His smiles and glances and the occasional laugh in the middle of nothing at all gave him away. Across the street an artist spray-painted onto canvas, then wiped it away with a cloth - which hid the real thing he used: his particle manipulation gift - and layered colors, and wiped, until the picture was complete. Behind the counter, a barista kept adjusting the scarf which was meant to cover a neat pair of gills on her neck. It took some time to notice, but her chest never rose and fell with breath. Her gills opened and closed instead.

The seated woman topped up her cup, adding just a little cream. The majority of the population was still human, only one in fifty mutated, according to popular public statistic. She knew better than to trust public statistic, however. It was at least one in thirty now, with rapidly rising numbers. X-positives were becoming more known as time went by, but not necessarily in a good way.

Like the five who entered the cafe just now, led by a calloused, lean and blue-haired woman who easily found the waiting one. The group was well-known, but appreciated only by mutants and the few humans who supported mutants. The customers in the cafe who recognized them paid their bills and left in a hurry, expecting disaster. Instead, the three men in the five-pronged group sat down across from Rex, the other woman went to get tea, and the blue-haired leader remained standing, arms crossed.

"You must be the presidential candidate's representative," the blue-head said.

"You must be Artemis," the woman smiled, extending a hand. She ignored the blatant chest-eying done by Avalanche and the averted gazes of Pyro and Newt. They tried, poor things. "It's a pleasure to meet you and your Brotherhood."

Artemis shook the woman's hand firmly, lying right back. "Likewise. Allow me to introduce: Newt, Pyro, and Avalanche. Phantazia is over by the counter. Newt, Pyro, Avalanche...the presidential candidate's representative. You haven't told me your name, miss," she stated, hard voice clearly disapproving.

The first woman smiled patiently. "Rex."

"'ello, Rex," Pyro reached across the table, hand upturned. He was smirking wickedly. The woman smiled in amusement and set her hand in his. Predictably, he raised her knuckles to his lips.

"You're always gonna do that when you meet a lady, aren't ya, Py?" Newt groaned.

John laughed, Rex slid her hand from his. "What? I love the taste o' politicians in the morning."

"Smooth, Pyro," Dominic rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Do you?" Rex smiled. John quirked a flirty smirk. She leaned forward - pleasantly increasing the angle of the cleavage the two men were bravely avoiding. John took the invitation now, understanding the movement was intentionally revealing. Dominic, of course, continued to study the cleavage. "What about the taste of power?"

Artemis interfered at this point, much to Rex's frustration. Distracted men were easy to wheedle from - hence the form she chose. "You'll have to talk about the offer with _me,_ Rex. I lead the team."

Perturbed, and yet gracefully not flustered, Rex leaned back in her chair again. "Take a seat, Artemis," she ordered, then smiled. "Please."

The woman stared down at her briefly, then took a chair from another table and set it on the end - for the woman who was getting the tea. Artemis pulled her own chair away from Rex and then sat beside her.

"Thank you," Rex said when the woman was seated. "En Sabah Nur is seeking, as you know, powerful mutants to help in his campaign. Once he is in office, he will be installing from those mutants a selection of superiors who will take on the job of a special task force, essentially. You, are the team he would most like to place as that task force. You're already well-acquainted, coordinated, and professional. You would be an indispensable resource."

The team's members had mixed reactions. John fell serious, leaning back with a sigh. Dominic snorted, completely put-off. Tony looked at Artemis. Artemis frowned. At this point, Eileen same to the table with a tray of varying coffees for the team. She sat at the chair Artemis had pulled out for her. The leader filled her in.  
And then it was Artemis' turn to speak.

"Rex, dear," the woman took a more gentle tone, leaving her audience to wonder what was up. "Our team's purpose is to make humans aware that yes, mutants exist, but we aren't scum to be trodden on. We help the mutants who are injured. You understand, I hope?"

Rex nodded. Did she have heart? This woman? Heart that she could use? "Yes, Artemis, I understand. You want to help your fellow kind - an admirable venture! I'm only offering you the best way to do that: join the force, keep abuse of mutants in order. You'll keep your team and you'll be able to select your missions out of sets of a dozen and send other teams! En Sabah Nur is not asking you to do anything you're not already doing. He's only going to offer to pay you for it and give you more resources." She leaned forward and smiled at the woman. "It's a good offer, one that I would take if I were in your position."

Eileen, unknown by the rest of the group, placed a hand on Artemis'. The leader squeezed it gently and responded to the proposal. "What kind of tasks will we be doing, Rex? Taking out other candidates like what happened last Tuesday?"

She shook her head. "The murder of the Republican candidate had nothing to do with En Sabah Nur or our campaign-"

"See, now, that's a problem-" John cut in here. "You socialists are always killing the competition. Hitler did it. You all are setting up for the exact same world-dominator-wannabe act."

This put Rex at pause, and with her, the entire table. Before the statement was able to sink in as truth, Rex turned to Artemis. "You're allowing your team to make false, unsupported accusations without permission to speak."

Artemis squeezed Eileen's hand again, then let go and placed her arms on the table, hands clasped in front of herself. Her expression was stormy. "My team always has permission to speak. That's the nice thing about free speech in a free country. And-" she frowned deeply, "I happen to agree with Pyro about En Sabah Nur's real goals. He can talk all he wants about mutant freedom and peace with humans to get the presidency. I don't believe a word of it."

"So, all of you, Tony, Dominic, St John, Eileen, Artemis..." the team members shifted, aware that they hadn't given her their names. Rex watched each of them carefully. "You are going to refuse a job that yes, might entail killing a few people...just because of your political views?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Dominic nodded.

"Very well, then," Rex said, smiling nicely and standing. She picked up her purse, picked up the file folder she'd brought, and smiled again. "I hope you realize that En Sabah Nur currently holds 80% of the votes. He _will_ gain office, and he _will_ lead America. Regardless of your preference, you will be answering to him in a matter of months."

She let that statement sink in for several moments, allowed gravity to descend on the team's members.

"I am willing to extend this invitation to each of you, individually, independent of your team and leader."

Dominic folded his arms in front of his chest. John shook his head. Tony mumbled 'no way.' Eileen...hesitated. A lot. Rex singled her out.

"Phantazia? May I speak to you alone for a moment?"

The woman looked to Artemis, who gave her a reassuring nod. Eileen stood and followed Rex to the ladies' bathroom. The close space put her on guard, in sync with the electromagnetic fields around them. If the representative was going to try anything short of telepathy or instant disintegration, Phantazia could stop her heart first.

"I wanted to speak with you outside the presence of your team leader. I understand your absolute loyalty to Artemis, and the nature of your...relationship with her," Rex phrased delicately while Eileen listened impassively, "And I wanted you to feel free of any pressure that understandably accompanies such a relationship. I can tell you're thinking about taking the position, and should you wish to move forward with that decision, I want to make the movement as easy and smooth as possible."

Eileen thought for a long moment, arms crossed over her chest. "You seem to think I'm soft, Rex, or that I'm not allowed to disagree with my mistress in front of her."

"I certainly do not believe either of those things, Eileen," Rex said. "I wanted to ask you personal questions, besides offering you freedom."

"My team can hear what you have to say," she glared.

"Fair enough. But I'll begin while we're here, alright?"

When Phantazia frowned and nodded, Rex asked.

"Who do you have in family?"

She swallowed. "I have a daughter."

That hadn't been in her file. "What's her name?"

"Nicole."

"Do you want to protect her, Eileen?"

"I already am protecting her."

Rex sighed. "You may be now. But if you don't accept..." she shook her head, a very serious frown drawing her face. "One day, Nicole won't have anybody coming home for her."

Eileen's eyes hardened and she glowered at the other woman. "Is this a threat?"

"It's a warning, Ms Harsaw" Rex said in a calm tone intended to soothe. "And it's a truth. Unless you accept En Sabah Nur's offer and his protection of the two of you."

"I don't want any pithy warnings," she spat, moving closer to the other woman, fists clenched. "You call it 'protection' - it's _control_. No. I won't accept, I won't negotiate, and I sure as hell won't vote for you socialists."

Rex stood her ground, growing colder at the other woman snapped at her. When Eileen was finished, there was silence, during which the control of the situation returned completely to Rex while Eileen waited for some reaction. The government official adjusted her dress primly and tucked her purse and files under her arm. "Very well, Ms Harsaw. I appreciate your consideration and respect your choice. Let's return to your team, shall we?"

\------------

Artemis disliked Rex's choice of 'privacy'. She disliked that the woman separated Eileen from the team at all. Teams worked better together, were able to back their members up in need. The woman was creating disunity, weakening the group.

"So," John set down his teacup, "What's the plan, boss?"

The men looked at her. Artemis was a strategist, and was always planning, always looking for different ways to skin cats.

"Eileen will refuse. Rex will return to say goodbye, maybe pitch the deal one more time. I doubt she'll order an attack here, but if she does, Phantasia will work her magic; Avalanche and Pyro, you'll create distractions and disasters, Newt and I will cover. The plan at that point is to get out of the city _together_ , fighting all the way if we must. Once in the clear, we'll stay off En Sabah Nur's radar. New York has always been a hotspot, and it's only going to get busier, so we'll stay out of here. We'll find a deadzone."

"Sweden?" Dominic suggested.

"Too off-the grid. Too private. They'd definitely predict that move," she said. 

"Cuba? Mexico?" John offered. "They're littered and full o' people. Would be difficult to source us."

"Yeah, but dangerous," Newt frowned. "Hawaii's too small, Japan's...Japan. Sabah's negotiating with Africa all the fuckin' time. How about Russia?"

"Russia has just enough chaos to get lost in and just enough order to hide in," Artemis nodded.

"But it's cold!" John shuddered. "Italy! Italy would work."

"We'll discuss this later," the leader said, eyes on Rex and Eileen as the two exited the bathroom. Phantazia returned to the table, but Rex simply smiled at the group and waved before leaving the cafe.

"That was strange," Dominic thought out loud, watching the woman disappear down the overcrowded streets.

Artemis stood, reaching for Eileen's hand as soon as she was in reach. The woman assured the leader that she was fine.

"It's definitely a death threat," she said, though, looking around at the team and then back the blue-haired woman. "Join or die."

Dominic huffed. "Kinda expecting that."

"Socialist assholes," John muttered.

"Not an immediate one, though?" Newt asked, seeing how the woman left.

"No. She said 'one day'. One day it'll happen," Eileen replied, glancing away.

Artemis caught her glance, the evidence to missing words. If the boys caught it, they didn't show or didn't care. She touched Eileen's wrist briefly, meaning they'd talk later. 

"Well, let's ensure it's not today," Artemis said. She handed Pyro her credit card. "Pay the bill. Then we'll find the nearest ATM and withdraw every last penny in our accounts and start out. We'll talk about destination as we drive."

\------------

John smiled at the pretty brunette behind the counter. Lovely girl. Nametag said 'Anna'. He wished he was staying overnight. Anna handed him his receipt and he gave her a five-dollar tip and a wink for those lovely eyes. 

When he stepped out of line, an insistent voice on the telly caught his attention. 

"...me why I'm telling you Canadians should be scared? Let me ask _you_ \- Why should the Queen be scared? Why should the Pope of Italy and whoever's in charge of China right now be scared? Look at Napoleon. Actually, strike that and look at Hitler! That world-domination psycho gutted a dozen countries in a six-year war. But how did he get that ability? Who gave it to him on a silver platter?"

John knew what was coming next. "We did," he mouthed.

"The voters! The people who voted him in in the first place: the civilians of his own country. And he was great for the first couple years! everybody loved his promises. And just when everybody was starting to settle, _bang!_ Poland's gone."

At this point Miss Lang tried to get a word in, but Kev was too quick.

"Listen, Amanda - if Hitler could get in without hiding his socialism, En Sabah Nur can get in. And if Hitler could gut so many countries, at the beginning of the invention of 'modern war', this new mutant with all sorts of high-tech gadgets he doesn't need to patent because no one can f*beep*ing make them yet, could gut the world. Easily. Hitler's war took six years? Sabah's could take one. _That_ is why Canadians should be p*beep*ing their pants. Hitler took Germany's neighbor. What do you think this giant's going to do? Get your passports, get on a plane, and get the hell away from America while you still can. Run like f*beep*ing chickens. Leave the planet if you can find a way, and hitchhike right out of the galaxy. That's my advice, Amanda."

The screen flipped back to Amanda Lang. Damn was she gorgeous. "So you have no squalls about comparing En Sabah Nur to Hitler, Kevin? To some of our viewers that might seem a bit extreme."

"No problem at all, Amanda. Socialists, are socialists, are socialists. Socialists with access to advanced technology of their time, are worse socialists than the inventor of socialism. En Sabah Nur can suck my d*beep* if he wants to get his socialist hands on social media and scrub it clean of this broadcast. All I'm doing is telling the Americans the truth: you guys are stupid f*beep* if you're actually voting for this guy. If you aren't, I am so, so sorry that the votes are being controlled. I really am."

"Thank you for clarifying, Kevin. Alright, it's time to take a break. We'll be back in a few moments."

John left the cafe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...it didn't turn out as dreadfully as expected.


End file.
